Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-01-20

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Adam, "and that the ideal doctrine is
false, is that not only have we been
crushed, but we have been stupid. This
! Gambetta saws dozens of things that
thought in 1913, and which | have not
dared to formulate since. He is right.
| None of those who have been directing
us ever took advantage of events. If
we had only had man with the char
acter of Cavaignac. the eloquence of
Lemartne, the democratic passion OF
Ledru-Rollin, then we should have
triumphed. VIII you believe itP-M
Leon Gambetta makes me think of this
trinity united in one single man"
"Ah! if that be the case, | want to
know him. You must bring him to see
me. ~
The fact is that his ways are very
how shall | say?-very Latin Quarter
student-like. He is rs free and careless
in his language as he is in his dress.
He speaks with terrible accent; he dis
cusses with insolence; and | should be
sorry for you to hear the way he treats
me because | am one of the 1S4S set.
But is he extraordinary or is he
not?"
HE is extraordinary, but thorough
Bohemian; vulgar, living as nobody else
lives, brutal, audacious. He is man
for the pupulace, kind of Danton, only
more snrewd. He speaks with great
authority"
n want to know him" l replied
On November IA, 1868, Gambetta,
who in the morning was only known to
a small circle of friends, became fam
Gus in the evening, thanks to his de-
! fence of Delescluze, the editor of LIE
ReUea His pleadIngs flew like signal
all over France
The great force of Gambetta lay in
his faculty of translating currents of
opinion into words, which had no leaT
/ value in themselves, or, at any rate,
value which they soon lost, but which
at the moment Gained each ones
spirit of inquiry, and We're the exact
4 expression of the opinions of all This
/ speech in defence of Delescuze, which
! caused so much emotion, and rendered
so admirably and so completely the eX-
! plosion of the general conscience of
! France, seems nothing exceptional if we
| read it over now, but you car feel in it
the vibration of soul which others
made to vibrate Between Gambetta
and public opinion, so far as he aban-
doned himself to opinion and did not
try to Cypress It, there was an extra
ordinary sympathetic communication.
He gave back one hundred-fold what
he received from it; satisfying it Just in
the degree to which it wished to be
! satisfied. He was the model of demo-
cratic orator. Often have | seen him ut
the time when we were intimate, hest
tate in his reflections, question, grow
excited in order to provoke contradic-
ton, exercise his oratory in our little
circle as if he were trying to feel the
pulse of opinion, just as formerly he
used to exercise himself in the midst of
his comrades so that he might Judge the
resources of his eloquence. But in
presence Of crowd or of an assembly.
| whatever his preconceived idea might
be, his mind would catch with marvel
Gus facility the general tendency Of
the mind of his audience, and there
would take place within his MIND, rs it
were, a chemical process, the formation
of sublmated mixture of diverse ele-
ments. How could he fail to force the
attention of those to whom he returned
tE9ir own thoughts strengthened. broad
ened and adorned with superb flights
of el0quence?
Before our departure for the south
sent a note to Gambetta inviting him
to dinner. He imagined, as he after
ward told me, that he was coming to
the table of literary woman, blue
stocking, and so he arrived dressed in
one of those costumes that one wears in
the morning for want of something bet
ter His coat was neither frock-cOat
nor a jacket, but something between a
pilot-coat and an oyercoat As he was
subject to bronchitis, he wore a check
flannel shirt, on which he had pinned a
white collar and cuffs, but the flannel
was visible in certain places, and he
pushed back the recalcitrant folds with
an ease that betrayed long habit
Adam and our friends were all in
evening dress, and 1 in decollete gala
costume. Gambetta looked at Us in
amazement Eugene Pelletan. who
knew him, introduced the newcomer to
me. Adam was chatting in another
room. Gambetta apologized for not
having dress-coat Il never wear
one" he said; "and if | had known
"You would not nave come, mon
sieur. That is very unamiable on your
part, | replied, laughing.
Pelletan. with his usual kindness. then
added Madame Adam prefers that her
friends should not come to her house in
evening dress
However, the appearance Of the room
demonstrated the contrary. In such
cases rs this everybody is embarrassed.
/ II H.